Hydrogen peroxide is typically prepared for industrial use by electrolytic formation, hydrolysis of the peroxodisulfate ion, oxidation of isopropyl alcohol, or by continuous auto-oxidation of anthraquinol.
The possibility of synthesis of hydrogen peroxide by direct synthesis from the elements has been the subject of extensive research for some time, but the synthesis by known processes has not been sufficiently efficient.
One of the earliest patent references to the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from the elements is that of Henkel et al in U.S. Pat. No. 1,108,752, issued Aug. 25, 1914. Henkel et al discloses the use of a porous clay pipe impregnated with palladium as the catalytic agent to convert hydrogen and oxygen to hydrogen peroxide in the presence of water.
More recent improvements are disclosed by Campbell in British Pat. No. 1,194,804, issued Dec. 13, 1967 and by Hooper in U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,533, issued Jan. 2, 1968. The Campell reference discloses a process for producing hydrogen peroxide by contacting hydrogen and oxygen with certain solid catalysts in the presence of water and a compound which is a reduced form of quinone. The Hooper reference contacts hydrogen and oxygen with certain solid catalysts in the liquid phase in the presence of water, an acid and a non-acidic oxygen-containing organic compound. Both of the above-mentioned processes give relatively low yields of hydrogen peroxide.